Autumn is well and truly here. It’s been rainy. Very rainy. Now, I’m not a huge ‘I hate rain’ person because I tend to just get on with it, usually without an umbrella because, well, am I the only person to find them annoying to carry about? And am I the only person that can’t seem to use the damn things because the wind likes to tip them inside out, pretty much every single time? So I give up. But my coat does have a hood. The cold? I don’t mind that so much. The beautiful leaves and colours? That I definitely love.

This soup is terrific for coming in from the cold, as a mid-week lunch or dinner. You can make a big batch at the weekend and freeze them into portions to eat when needed. Lastly, this soup is perfect as a starter for Thanksgiving dinner.

Butternut Squash, Chestnut Mushroom & Thyme Soup

Serves 4-6 as a main meal and about 8-10 as a starer. Feel free to halve the recipe if you don’t want a huge batch of soup.

Preheat your oven at 200°C. Lay your butternut squash chunks on a large baking tray along with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, paprika, 3/4 of the thyme and chilli flakes. Roast for 25 – 30 minutes until they are soft but still hold their structure. Once slightly cooled it is easier to peel off the skin at this stage, however, I have made this without peeling the skin and you don’t notice any difference in texture once everything is blended together.

In a large pot over a medium heat, add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil followed by the onions and garlic. Allow to cook for about 10 minutes until the onions are soft and translucent. Be careful not to burn the garlic – if they are starting to brown then reduce the heat slightly.

Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, until soft and slightly browned. Add your roasted butternut squash.

Meanwhile, boil your kettle and make your stock in a large measuring jug or bowl. Add the stock to the pot and simmer everything together for a few minutes.

At this point, I added extra paprika, chilli, thyme, salt and pepper. Take your hand-held mixer and blitz the mixture until blended without any lumps. If using a stand-alone blender then do this is small batches to avoid over filling your machine.

Taste for seasoning and add as desired. If serving immediately, stir in the cream and enjoy. If freezing into portions I would do this before adding the cream. Of course, the cream is entirely optional but it does give the soup a lovely rich flavour.

I hope you all enjoy this recipe – it has become a much-loved staple in my house since Thanksgiving last year when I created it. Let me know if you give this a try!

During the week we all want to eat a meal that can be thrown together with ease and doesn’t take up too much time. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been working since 8am or 9am, leaving the house even earlier and don’t come home until at least 7pm (or even 9pm – pony duties are important folks). So by then, you’re hungry, and you just want some dinnah!

This is a slight cheat recipe because I use shop-bought puff pastry, but frankly, I do not have time to make beautiful puffy dough. I suppose if you wanted to make this healthier you could use a philo pastry however, I am all about a delicious flaky pastry topped with lovely roasted veg.

Cherry Tomato, Red Pepper, Caramelized Red Onion and Feta Cheese Tart

You will need:

2 red peppers, de-seeded and cut into thick slices

2 tablespoons of olive oil

320g ready-made sheet of puff pastry

1/2 a jar of caramelized red onion chutney

250g packet of cherry tomatoes, cut in half

200g feta cheese (I used the barrel smoked variety)

2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves

Preheat your oven to 200°C. Toss the peppers in olive oil and transfer to a baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes, until softened.

Meanwhile, open out the pastry onto another baking sheet (the pastry already comes with parchment paper already so that saves you having to do another step!). Spread the chutney over the surface of the pastry until evenly distributed.

Remove the peppers from the oven and arrange over the pastry along with the cherry tomatoes. Then crumble over the feta cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until puffed and golden brown. Remove from the oven, scatter with basil, cut into rectangles and serve.

This tart will happily feed six servings or four if you are all very hungry and want seconds! Otherwise, it keeps in the fridge covered up for 1-2 days. I served this with dish with boiled pearl potatoes and a salad of mixed leaves (lambs lettuce, beetroot, spinach – one of those ready packs from the supermarket), chickpeas, artichokes, olives and an omega seed sprinkle.

Let me know if you try this recipe and what you think of it! What are some of your favourite mid-week easy meals?

This is perfect for Easter Sunday lunch, or for any Sunday lunch or dinner, for that matter. This recipe takes a little bit of time to assemble but it is well worth it! I use ready-made pastry but if you want to put in more effort then go ahead and make your own pastry – it would probably taste even better.

This pie is based on a recipe by Delicious Magazine and can be found here. The original recipe is not vegetarian though.

Quorn Chicken Pie

You will need:

1 bag of frozen Quorn chicken pieces

2 medium onions, roughly chopped

2/3 medium carrots, trimmed and chopped into chunks

200g baby new potatoes, washed and chopped into chunks

4 garlic cloves

2-3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Handful of fresh lemon thyme or thyme, leaves stripped

1 lemon

1 tbsp plain flour (plus extra for dusting for the pastry)

150ml dry white wine

250ml vegetable stock

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

3 tbsp crème fraîche

150g frozen peas

Ready-made shortcrust pastry (or homemade)

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C. Place all of the onions, carrots, potatoes and garlic in a large roasting dish. Season with the olive oil, thyme, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix the vegetables so that they are evenly coated in oil and seasoning. Roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook the Quorn chicken pies on the hob in olive/vegetable oil as per the packaging instructions. Once the pieces have cooked, leave them to cool on a plate. I also cut them into even smaller pieces.

3. Take your pastry out of the fridge to reach room temperature. This makes it easier to roll out later on. Prepare a surface with a small dusting of flour ready for when you need to roll out the pastry. By now the vegetables should be roasted. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for 10-15 minutes.

4. In a saucepan, whisk 1 tbsp vegetable oil with the 1 tbsp flour over a low heat and cook for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the wine, then bubble until the liquid has reduced by a third. Add the stock and simmer for about 5 minutes. Whisk in the mustard and crème fraîche, taste and season. Turn off the heat and set aside.

5. In a large casserole or pie dish, layer the Quorn chicken pieces on the bottom. Add the roasted vegetables and frozen peas and cover with the sauce. Mix well.

6. Roll the pastry out on your lightly floured surface roughly to the thickness of a pound coin and cover the pie. Trim the edges with a sharp knife – you can make decorations with any of the leftover pastry, if you wish. Glaze the pastry with beaten egg. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown. I served this pie with cauliflower cheese but you can add more vegetables on the side (asparagus or broccoli would accompany it well) or even a salad.

I hope everyone enjoys their Easter weekend! Let me know if you try this pie and what you think of it!

I’ve actually had a great craving for pizza recently. It is seriously such an easy thing to make. The first time I made it was of course an experiment which of course had to go right because I had decided to invite a friend over for dinner. Since that success (yes, it was a big success) I have made this time and time again.

All cooking (and baking) requires patience. If you can master patience, staring at your onions softening, waiting for the timer to go off, not opening the oven door to ‘see how your delicious whatever it is is doing’. No. Just don’t. Just watch it, let it cook, let the food do it’s own glorious natural thing and you end up with a beautiful thing.

Right, so pizza. You need to let the dough rise. The longer the better. You end up with a wonderful elastic dough that will make you never want to order in pizza ever again. And the best part is you can freeze the dough, even break it up into smaller batches for when you’re home alone wanting a small-sized pizza for yourself (or you know, you don’t have to do that if you want a bigger pizza). You can leave it to thaw in your fridge during the day if you’re busy or at work. Then knead it when you get home, let it rise for a further 20 minutes, then place your toppings on and within like 30 minutes you have a fresh, delicious, personal pizza.

In a large bowl*, combine the flour, yeast and salt. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and start to bring the dough together with your hands. Then slowly add the water, a tablespoon at a time.

Work the mixture in your hands until everything is combined and forms a dough. If you need to add more water then do so, again, a tablespoon at a time.

Turn out your dough onto a clean floured surface and knead by hand for a minute or two until the dough is smooth. Form into a ball. Place the remaining olive oil in another large bowl and place the dough into that bowl. Cover with cling film and let the dough rise for 1-2 hours.

If you are making this in the morning you can also let the dough rise in the fridge for 6-8 hours.

If you want to freeze your dough then you will need to do so after it has risen for your required amount of time.

When the dough is ready remove from the bowl (you can then divide it into two sections) and place on a floured surface. Roll into a round ball and cover with cling film once again. Let this rise for a further 20 minutes.

In this time, I like to prepare my toppings. You can add anything you like. For this recipe I used red onions, yellow peppers, goats cheese, mozzarella plus herbs/spices. I recommend cooking/boiling any vegetables/ingredients first, such as I have done with the onions and peppers. I let them saute in a pan on a low heat for about 10-15 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 260C

Once the dough has puffed up roll out into a circular form, with your hands or with a rolling pin. You can also roll out the dough on a pizza stone (like this one) if you have one. I like to make a twisty pattern for the crusts.

Now, this is where I changed the recipe from the original. I covered my pizza with baking paper and baking beads/rice and blind-baked them for 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it to make sure the edges do not burn. You can also put your base on the stone/tray without the baking paper but it will puff up.

Take your pizza out of the oven. Top with olive oil, tomato sauce/passata, cheese, your toppings, sprinkle with herbs, salt and pepper (if desired) and then bake again for a further 8-12 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the cheese is fully melted. Let it rest for a further 5 minutes.

So! I realize I’ve been an absolute failure with this. I left it for so long I found it difficult to come back to where I left off. But here I am again! Hurrah! Shout to me now. Give me a slap on the hands and say ‘Stellington, get in that kitchen, take delicious photos of food and BLOG!’ Okay?

On that note, I don’t have a photo today. But I do have a recipe!

Poached Eggs on a bed of Spinach and Chestnut Mushrooms.

You will need:

2 eggs

Chestnut mushrooms – 80-100g sliced

A good handful of Spinach leaves – 100g

Half an onion – diced

Fresh baguette – 6-8inch size, sliced down the middle (toasted, if you prefer)

Fresh chives, diced

Paprika (optional)

Salt & white pepper

2 tbsp – Vegetable oil/butter, for frying

1 tsp white vinegar

1. Start by heating a large pan with some vegetable oil or butter. Toss in your onions and fry on a medium-high heat until they begin to soften after about 5-7 minutes. Add in your chestnut mushrooms. Let them cook together for 10 minutes on a medium heat. When the mushrooms have turned brown and softened, add in the chives, leaving a small teaspoon for garnish.

2. In the mean time, put on a small saucepan of water on your stove and wait for it to boil. Add a teaspoon of white vinegar (optional).

3. Wash your spinach and either leave to dry in a colander or pat dry with some paper towel.

4. Prepare your baguette by slicing down the middle lengthways. You can toast your baguette if you prefer or if it’s fresh then leave it just so. Butter both sides if you wish. Arrange a good handful of spinach on top of your bread. Turn off your stove and add the mushrooms on top of the spinach.

5. Now the poaching bit! I like to put my eggs into a little dish/container. Make sure the water is simmering (not boiling) and carefully place the eggs into the pan, first one egg and then the other. I recommend cooking each egg separately, but if you have a large pan of water and feel more confident in your egg poaching abilities, then go ahead and poach both at the same time. I find the perfect time is roughly 1.5 – 2 minutes. When they are ready, remove with a slotted spoon and tip the spoon at an angle carefully to remove as much excess water as possible.

6. Place the eggs on the mushroom and spinach stack. Season with salt and white pepper to taste and sprinkle on the remaining chives for garnish. Enjoy!

Next update: Homemade pizza.

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